


let's be alone together

by CerinityKS



Category: The Martian (2015), The Martian - All Media Types, The Martian - Andy Weir
Genre: Dreams and Nightmares, Fluff, M/M, Past Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-30
Updated: 2015-09-30
Packaged: 2018-04-24 01:44:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4900735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CerinityKS/pseuds/CerinityKS
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mark didn’t want to be alone. He’d had enough of being alone to last a lifetime.</p>
            </blockquote>





	let's be alone together

**Author's Note:**

> for shannon, who prompted me #9 (things you said when i was crying) with beckwatney. hope you like it dear x

When Mark was pulled from his most recent nightmare he was unsurprised to see Chris standing over him.

They’d been back on Earth for a month already and Chris had essentially moved in with Mark. Mark had put up a token protest, trying to say he couldn’t ask Chris to do this, but both of them knew he was lying out his ass. 

Mark didn’t want to be alone. He’d had enough of being alone to last a lifetime. 

Chris didn’t say anything as he woke Mark for the thousandth time from his thousandth nightmare. He just sat down on the bed and pulled Mark into his arms. Mark immediately curled into Chris, hot tears already spilling down his cheeks. 

Chris held him, offering silent comfort as Mark cried. Mark couldn’t be more grateful to Chris for that if he tried. 

Mark was shaking, fingers bruising as they dug into the bare skin of Chris’s hips. It was something Mark both loved and hated about these moments – on one hand he got to cuddle a half-naked Chris (mm, those pecs and washboard abs); on the other hand, he got to cuddle up to a half-naked Chris and he couldn’t do anything about it because Chris _didn’t know_ how Mark felt about him. 

Mark couldn’t stop shaking. He couldn’t remember what he dreamt about but it must have been bad. 

Chris must have realized that because slowly, hesitantly, he started to talk. He rambled on about random things, a hand running soothingly through Mark’s hair. Mark sighed at the contact, eyes fluttering, and had to repress a moan of satisfaction. Chris tugged at Mark, still talking lowly, and rearranged them so that they were spread out on the bed, Mark curled half over Chris with the other man’s arms wrapped around him securely. 

“T’ank you,” Mark slurred, abruptly cutting Chris off mid-sentence. 

“You don’t need to thank me,” Chris replied after a moment of silence. 

“Fe’l like I should,” Mark nuzzled into Chris’s delightful pecs and resisted the urge to bite down on a tempting nipple. 

“I’m happy to do this Mark,” and you could just _hear_ the smile in Chris’s voice as he said it. 

“Bu’ you could be wi’ Beth, and you’re here wi’ me instead,” Mark resisted the urge to frown as he thought of the doctors relationship with Beth. He didn’t want to say he was jealous, because he was genuinely happy that Chris was happy, but he totally was. Jealous that is. 

Chris was silent for a prolonged moment, and then slowly, “I’m not with Beth anymore.” 

Mark frowned. The tears had slowed down as Chris comforted him and he sniffed a bit and raised red eyes to look at Chris. 

“What happened?” 

“Ah, we just realized that we, um, wanted different things,” Chris looked oddly sheepish as he tried to brush it off. 

In his current emotional state Mark’s mind immediately jumped to thinking that it was his fault, and to his horror he could feel the tears start to flow again. 

“I’m sorry!” he gasped, a bit dramatically, even Mark could admit, and Chris only had a moment to look horrified before Mark started to cry again in earnest. 

“Shit, Mark!” Chris sat up and pulled Mark closer, tucking his face into the crook of his neck. 

“Mark, it wasn’t your fault, I promise,” Chris soothed, one hand rubbing across the small of Mark’s back while the other cradled the back of Mark’s head. 

“It wasn’t?” Mark sniffled piteously. 

“No, I promise. If anyone was at fault it was me,” Chris promised. 

“How?” Mark frowned. He gripped at the bare skin of Chris’s back and wished he had something to grip on to. 

“I, um,” Mark could hear Chris’s heart suddenly start to beat faster. “I realized that I had feelings for someone else, feelings that were stronger than what I had for Beth, and uh, it was, well, I couldn’t lead her on you know?” 

Mark blinked slowly, tears coming to a stop, and then suddenly he _got it_ , like a punch to the chest. 

He was many things, but he wasn’t a complete idiot. 

“Oh,” he said. 

“Yeah,” Chris breathed. 

Neither of them moved, and the silence surrounding them was comfortable, if not suddenly a bit more tension filled than before. 

“Chris?” 

“Yeah?” 

“Stay with me tonight?” 

Mark moved, just a bit, but enough so that he was completely pressed against Chris. He brushed a feather light kiss to Chris’s neck and felt the other man’s breathe catch. 

“Yeah,” Chris breathed. “Yeah, I can do that,” and then he brushed a kiss across the top of Mark’s head, and Mark knew they were both on the same page – no more words needed to be said. 

And if Mark dreamed the rest of that night, he couldn’t remember. He had something much more pleasant to dream about now after all.

**Author's Note:**

> find [this](http://rinnielove.tumblr.com/post/130167749971/9-with-beckwatney-please-3) and [me](http://rinnielove.tumblr.com/) on tumblr x


End file.
